Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Die Strafe - Krunk [Major Label 088 Promo]

And now to something completely different: Punkrock! Not necessarily what you'd expect to find on these pages stylewise but the latest album effort released by the Mönchengladbach-based Punk-outfit Die Strafe via our friends over at Major Label is simply too good and thrilling to not cover. Founded somewhat in the first half of the nineties the trio consisting of Budde Strafe, Kai Strafe and Torsten Strafe delivers a raw bunch of 16 songs within a total playtime of approx. 37 minutes here, catering nothing short of a masterpiece balancing between traditional roots, contemporary social criticism and a modernistic, open minded 2.0-take on the genre. The opener "13%" alone is a killer anthem meandering between classic Punk aesthetics and the concrete grey'isms of the PostPunk, "Schnell Vorbei" clings to snotty oldskool street credibility, "Entschuldigen Sie" comes across with a tongue-in-cheek FunPunk vibe whilst "N.O.T." serves a dystopian crossover towards aggressive (No)Wave. Furthermore "Vegetation Grock" sets every moshpit on fire with a melodic, yet distorted approach and hammering highspeed drumkit, "Es Ist Schön" is a twisted, short take on PopPunk whilst "Fensterbank" can be described as a perfect soundtrack for street fights and rebellion before "Meine" is a psyched out ode to a madhouse and "Karacho" goes full throttle in its description of a full-on punk lifestyle. Going further into the album with "Stück Für Stück" Die Strafe are dealing with a more serious topic, describing the mental decay of someone suffering from dementia, "Himmel Hilft Nicht" is somewhat flirting with epic Goth and sing-a-long Indie, the title track "Krunk" is just 83 seconds of overdrive and full-on madness and "Wir Werden Alle Sterben" ("We're All Going To Die") deals exactly with the titles statement in a folksy, apocalyptic campfire Rock manner that'd well fit into a Mad Max scenario and for some strange reason evokes memories of bands like Bratze or Clickclickdecker at some point. "Schmeiß Doch" will well appeal to all fans of classic Punk anthems, "Sterne" is on a more reflective tip and the final song "Loreley" brings in stripped-down, distorted melancholia, qualms and deep thoughts on the protagonists life. What an amazing ride!